The present invention is directed to a multilevel stacking container of a type frequently used in the distribution of bakery products. Containers of this general type are designed to stack upon each other in a stable stack both for storage and for convenience in handling during the delivery operation. Conventionally such containers are also designed so that one container may be stacked at two or more different levels with respect to the underlying supporting container to minimize the height of a stack while affording adequate clearance to prevent crushing of the products carried in the lower containers. High-level stacking may be desired for products such as loaves of bread, while a somewhat lower-level stacking may be adequate for products of lesser height, such as cupcakes for example.
There is a substantial body of prior art relating to containers of this general type, see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,937,327; 4,106,623; 4,106,625; and 4,189,052. The present invention is especially directed to improvements in containers of this type, particularly containers which are formed with end walls of differing, but complementary, configuration in which high-level stacking is achieved with one end wall relationship (i.e., like end wall to like end wall) and a lower-level stacking relationship is established by reversing the end wall relationship (i.e., like end wall to complementary end wall).
In most cases this last-mentioned type of design finds the end walls being formed with raised and lowered sections so arranged as to achieve the two-level stacking by selectively employing the like or reverse orientation between the container end walls. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,189,052. However, in achieving this result, prior art containers usually require the container being stacked to be manually lifted into vertical alignment with the underlying container and then being manually lowered vertically into stacked relationship. In handling these containers, it is frequently attempted to slide the upper container across the lower container to its stacked position; however, the alternate raised and lowered sections on the two containers frustrate this movement by snagging or interfering with each other before the upper container reaches its final stacked position.
The present invention is especially directed to an end wall configuration in which the foregoing problem is eliminated.